Pope Leo XIV Says He's 'Proud to Be an American' as He Votes by Mail, Credits Doctors and God After Cancer Surgery

On Friday, at the back of the papal plane bound for Montevideo, Pope Leo XIV walked over to greet the reporters traveling with him and said he was glad to be there himself. Asked whether he felt as good as he looked, he answered that he felt maybe better. It was his first trip since lung cancer surgery, and the first questions he took were about something else: his vote in the American midterm elections.

Those elections handed control of Congress to the Democrats, a repudiation of President Donald Trump and his policies. Leo declined to comment on the outcome. He pointed instead to a Vatican statement issued on Oct. 30, which confirmed that he had submitted a mail-in ballot in his hometown of Chicago. The statement said he had voted whenever he was eligible, and that he believes in the right and the duty of citizens to take part in democratic processes. To another reporter who asked what his Chicago absentee ballot meant, he said he was proud to be an American and to exercise the right.

The pope also holds Peruvian citizenship, and the Vatican noted that he voted in Peru while he lived there. He said he was unable to vote in Peru's recent election because absentee ballots are not possible there. "But I would have done it. It's a good thing," he said.

His ballot drew some debate, since he is head of a foreign country, the Holy See, and took a new name, Leo XIV, the 266th successor to St. Peter, when he was elected on May 8, 2025. U.S. federal law lets American citizens keep their citizenship even when they work for foreign governments. Within the Church, though, he is Leo, not Robert Prevost, the name on his voter registration. Leo has shown he will move between the two when a delicate matter calls for it. Last weekend he hosted basketball players from Villanova, his alma mater, and rival Notre Dame, and joked that "the pope" does not take sides, but that "Prevost" was a Villanovan.

The flight begins a three-nation, 12-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, coming just three weeks after the 71-year-old pope had a cancerous tumor removed from his right lung. He revealed on Oct. 11 that a nodule had been found on his lung, and had surgery two days later. Some people doubted he would make the trip. He said that from the first day he had no doubt and was convinced it had to go forward.

Doctors confirmed the growth was adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. They removed the lower lobe of his right lung, and after further tests said he needed no more treatment and could travel. The nodule was found during a routine exam, sometime between his Sept. 25-28 trip to France and the Oct. 11 announcement. "Early detection is obviously the best way to go, and so regular checkups are a blessing," he said.

He credited his recovery to trusting God, good doctors, good surgeons and, he thought, a healthy lifestyle. "Praise the Lord and thanks to wonderful medical assistance, I'm here today, I think, in fairly good shape," he said. He had not yet been able to play tennis. "Not yet, but I will," he said.

Leo said the diagnosis left him with a commitment to stay close to the sick, and to stress that healthcare should be a right for all people. He is expected to press that message during the tour.